Method of making buckles



p 1949. J. A. TURlNl 2,481,179

METHOD OF MAKING BUCKLES Filed Sept. 16, 1946 INVENTOR. fiivdvm Sept. 6, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

My present invention relates to the buckle art, and more particularly to a novel method of manuiacturing buckles.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a novel method of manufacture and assembly of a, shoe buckle or similar object.

Another object of the piesent invention is to provide a method of assembling a. buckle which reduces the number operations and handling of parts.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a method of assembling buckles which reduces errors and promotes uniformity.

With the above and other objects and advantageous features in view, my invention consists of a novel method of manufamure, more fully disclosed in the detailed description following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and more particularly defined in the appended claims.

In th drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a metallic strip ready for stamping;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the strip after the first stamping operation;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the strip after the first assembly operation;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the strip after the second assembly operation;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the strip after the second stamping operation; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the finished buckle.

Shoe buckles and similar types of buckles are usually made by first cutting a blank from sheet stock, attaching the roller and tongue to the blank by hand or on a foot press, and then tumbling, polishing or plating the finished buckle. Thi requires the individual handling of each buckle and the separate manufacture of the individual parts.

The present invention provides a novel method which overcomes these disadvantages and materially speeds production on an assembly line" basis.

Referring to the drawings, the desired buckle W is shown in Fig. 6. It comprises an upper loop portion 8 l for attaching to'a. strap, and the buckle portion 112 which comprises two side arms connected by the integral bar l3. A roller II is loosely mounted on the bar I3, and a tongue I! is pivotally mounted at the center of the buckle with the free end resting on the roller ll in the conventional manner.

To manufacture the buckle III, I start with a conventional strip of metal l6, Fig. 1. The first step is to feed the strip through a stamping press to cut out open parts of buckles successively along the strip as shown at I! and II in Fig. 2.

The strip IE, now in the form shown in Fig. 2, is then fed to a foot or power operated press for attaching the rollers [4 to the successive bars l3, as shown in Fig. 3. The rollers It may be preformed for a foot press operation, or may be die cut by the same power press used in the assembly, where an automatic operation is used.

The strip IS, with the rollers I4, is now fed to another foot or power press and the tongue i5 successively attached as shown in Fig. 4. As in the case of the rollers M, the tongues may be preformed or cut and attached by the same press. While this operation may precede the attachment of the rollers, it is preferable to attach the rollers first as the tongues may interfere with the attachment of the rollers.

The strip It, with tongues and rollers attached, is then passed through a conventional stamping press which successively cuts out the finished buckles as shown in Fig. 5.

By the use of the above method of assembly, accuracy and speed is accomplished by eliminating the handling of small, individual buckle blanks. This method also permits assembly of the rollers and tongues by automatic means.

While I have described a specific method of assembly, it is obvious that changes may readily be made within the spirit and scope of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method of manufacturing a buckle comprising the steps of stamping a continuous metallic strip with successive buckle openings having an end bar and a cross bar extending longitudinally of the strip at each buckle opening, attaching successive buckle rollers to each end bar on said strip, and subsequently stamping successive finished buckles from said strip.

2. The method of manufacturing a buckle comprising the steps of stamping a continuous metallic strip with successive buckle openings having an end bar and a cross bar extending longitudinally of the strip at each buckle opening, attachin successive buckle rollers to each end bar on said strip, attaching successive buckle tongues to each cross bar on said strip, and subsequently stamping successive finished buckles from said strip.

JOHN A. TURINI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date I.

7,398 North et a]. May 28. 1850 1,795,559 Hellman Mar. 10, 1931 1,882,369 Russell Oct. 11, 1932 

